It was a dark and stormy night

To catch our flight to LA we had to leave the house at 3AM.  At 2 AM lightning severed our night, thunder roared, rain fell in torrents. Storms in Ajijic are epic. Our driver Chris failed to show at 3 am or at 3:15. Nor could he be reached.  We called Ricardo  who arrived 10 minutes later and  got us to the airport in one piece. A good guy. And thus another Searles journey began.

Lounging in LA

Just a few days to hang with our sons and tend to some business. Time for our sixth Covid shot. SIXTH! Will this never end? Apparently it has ended for most of the populace since we just waltzed in and got one. Not like the old days.  Plus, despite the fact that cases are soaring in California no one, and I mean no one, is wearing masks. Well some Japanese people, but they wear masks a lot.

We mostly just caught up on family stuff but one afternoon Alex took us to Mission San Fernando Rey, one of the later missions to be built and the largest we've seen. Bob Hope and his wife Dolores and various family members are buried there. So what was the link between Bob Hope and the mission. The only explanation provided was that Bob really liked the San Fernando Valley. 

Here are some photos:

The restoration of the mission and its furnishings was quite something.

The library was quite extensive.

This was the Bishop's room as shown in this and the subsequent photo.

This whole room was called the Virgin Mary room, with its multiple depictions in paintings and statues of the Virgin Mary.

The altar of the mission church was quite ornate.

This statue graced the entrance to the Bob Hope memorial garden.

The Azores

Our first stop overseas was Sao Miguel— the largest island in the Azores.  Anywhere we go we hear the same old refrain “if you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes.”  Generally untrue, but VERY true in the Azores  - sunny,  big black cloud, torrent, sun - all in five minutes.

A statue of Goncalo Velho Cabral, was the first Captain-major of the island of Santa Maria & Sao Miguel, 

is located at the Portas da Cidade (City Gates).

We stayed at The Barracuda Hotel right on the black sand beach. I questioned the marketing savvy of naming a beachside hotel after a highly aggressive fish but that’s just me.

We’d decided to take it easy and view the splendid vistas from miradors rather than trekking up and down the volcanic slopes of the isle.  So, typically we misjudged and took a little walk and 13, 000 plus steps up and occasionally down we arrived at Sete  Cidades.  The Azores are volcanic and filled with crater lakes.  At the apex of our hike we were treated to a view of two lakes and miles of mountains and valleys. One day veterans of Sao Miguel we didn’t realize how lucky we were. Given the volatile weather, the odds of a fog-less viewing were very slim.  One for our team.

The views from the top where we hiked were quite spectacular and made the hike worthwhile.

One common sight throughout the island were the dairy cows. There are more cows on Sao Miguel than there are people.

Next stop was two lakes—green and blue— separated by a causeway.  The differing colors are caused by different vegetation.  I don’t understand this since you can paddle under the causeway but that’s what they say.

The blue lake with the willow tree..

and the green lake with the ducks.

There are LOTS of churches in the Azores and at St. Nicolas church Michael snapped away.  But here’s the thing— all the churches there are almost identical, seen one you’ve seen them all. That’s OK with me since I’m pretty churched out these days.

The exterior of St. Nicolas church.

One of the many hydrangeas in full bloom we saw on the island.

There was a photo exhibit outside of the church and the top photo clearly shows the green and blue lakes.

Portugal is known for its ceramics so we wandered on to a very old ceramics factory where you could see all the processes needed to churn out a piece.  Their shop had a dizzying array of wares, which paralyzed my purchasing decision wiring so Michael led me gently to the car.

There were displays of the ceramics produced at the factory.

This shows the beginning of the process...

and this shows the end of the process.

This ceramic piece created at the factory is over 100 years old.

Damn it — Even here?

Our next foray started with an ancient convent by the sea and then a church A church that actually looked different!  Now for a word about hydrangeas.  First, I love them. Second, the island is crawling with them. Everywhere. Like hedges along the roads. Just take a look at the church photo. They were a bit “passed” but elsewhere on the island they were still in full bloom. Divine.

The exterior of the convent was covered in colorful tiles.

The stairway leading up to Our Lady of Peace Chapel looked quite daunting from the bottom.

At each level of stairs there were tiles depicting the various stages of the life of Jesus, culminating in the crucifixion. On the side of the chapel tiles depicted Jesus ascension into heaven, as well as the ascension of the Virgin Mary.

The view from the top showed that the climb up the stairs was worth the effort.

The exterior of the chapel...

and the interior.

Both sides of the stairway were covered with hydrangeas going all the way to the top of the hillside.

Less Divine.  The Tea Plantation.  We saw them at once. Tour buses. Many.  Where did they come from? Half the people we talked to didn’t even know where the Azores WERE. So, we think this the only place that grows tea in Europe— well sort of Europe. We tripped our way through the factory and obligatory gift shop and fled.

Bringing the picked tea leaves to the loft to dry.

After a period of drying the tea leaves are steamed...

then dried...

rolled...

and polished. The final step is separation to remove any stems.

A Blog to Make You Smile

 We haven't done a blog about Mexico in a while and I think, at this juncture, we all need something to smile about.  So here goes.  The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) in our pueblo of Ajijic has been running a Children's Art Program for 60 years.  From this program, scores of artists have been developed -- some now have world - wide reputations.  In addition to weekly classes throughout the year, each summer, LCS sponsors a week long arts camp on their campus. This year almost 200 children enjoyed the program.  The teachers are a mix of gringos and Mexicans  and the children range from preschool thru teenagers. There is no charge for the camp and at the end the kids can sell their projects at a sale which is always very popular. The current Board and Board President of LCS along with the Director of Education have worked hard over the last several years to enhance and expand the program to deliver more different classes to more students.  Today classes span from drawing and painting to ceramics and papier mache (cartoniera en Español) to crocheting and embroidery and more.  Take a look at these photos and just enjoy watching kids enjoying their creativity.

These young children were working with water colors.

This group was working on papier mache.

This was the younger group in the photo program, using their cell phones. The taller one in the back is Esteban (who participated in the Programa de Fotografía Juvenil sessions earlier) who is helping with the younger children. The younger one with the cell phone is also Esteban. 

A sketching session in progress.

A close up of the sketch used for instructing.

It was amazing to see the concentration for two hours without pause.

This was a group learning crocheting.

These children were working on textile arts.

These children were working on embroidery.

Alicia, one of the bilingual photo instructors was very creative in keeping the young children engaged. She set up this Bingo photography card with a different type of photograph in each block, which the children had to complete each of the blocks.

Some of the children's art work was displayed during the week and on Saturday the children sold their art work at an art fair and received 100% of the proceeds from the sale of their work.

This young man was very focused on his drawing.

This was one of the linotypes completed in another group of children.

Their were instructors in each specialty to give the children guidance.

The ceramics group had a number of creative children...

and here this young girl is displaying her finished product before firing and painting.

Octavio was the expert in instructing the children in papier mache (cartoniera).

This young boy was admiring some of the completed works which were drying prior to being painted.

This young man created an easel to help him paint more easily.

Depending on their interest, there were so many different types of art which the children could engage in during the week...

including cartoons.

It was great to see a campus, which normally only had a much older population, filled with young children.

Some of the children in the photo program posed for a publicity photo with the instructors, Alicia (on the left) and Sandy (on the right) and Esteban, the assistant next to Sandy.

These two young girls were intently reviewing the bingo card and checking their cell phones to see if they captured all the necessary images.

Here Sandy is giving guidance to one of youths in the program. Sandy instructed the youths from 12 to 18 years old and Alicia instructed the children from 9 to 12 years of age.

Each day LCS provided a lunch for all of the children during the entire week.

An example of one of the finished embroidery pieces.

Some finished cartoniera drying.

One of the young children, Esteban, who was 11 years old did not seem to be very engaged. Esteban is bilingual. To get Esteban engaged I gave him my Nikon Coolpix 900 camera, which has an amazing telephoto capability. The next five photos were all taken by Esteban, who now wants to be part of the next Programa de Fotografía Juvenil session.

These are pictures of the Danza de los Voladores, a ritual that started in Central Mexico among the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples and is still practiced today.

The children and all three assistants posed with some of the voladores for their photo.

Esteban was able to capture these monk parrots with the telephoto capabilities of the camera.

One of the creative figures made by one of the children from cartoniera.